In last week’s blog I talked about how the majority of human beings are asleep to who they truly are and how we need to wake up to our true nature beyond physical form, thought, emotion, life story, relationships, roles and career. I explained how these are simply aspects of who we are which provide us a frame of reference for relating to others, nature and the world but not who we are.
I went on to discuss our true nature of being, light or consciousness. I suggested spending time in stillness for 5 minutes a day to kickstart your awakening process. I would now like to dive deeper into how we can wake up to our true nature.
The truth is that life will provide us countless opportunities to wake up to our true nature if only we are alert enough to recognize them when they present. Here are a few of them:
1) Not matter what is happening in your life, do not take it too seriously. Your life situation is simply what your soul incarnate is experiencing in this earthly realm and, although it can be painful at times, cannot affect your true nature which remains untouched. Realize and ponder over this fact. This is not a call to ignore what you are feeling, even if negative, but to go deeper into the feeling. You will find that the feeling will pass through you more quickly, revealing to you a deep inner peace which cannot be affected by any emotion that you experience. This inner peace is a glimpse into your true nature so revel in it and don’t take anything too seriously because, in the end, nothing you experience absolutely matters.
2) Become aware of what you are thinking as often as you can. By becoming aware of your thoughts, you will start to realize that you are not your thoughts but are the one who notices your thoughts or the awareness behind your mental noise. Spend as much time in this awareness that you can and soon it will start to become your norm.
3) Spend more time in nature. Nature is a true reflection of who we are because it exists in its pristine, original state of being, unless disturbed by human beings. Nature that has been untouched is not only beautiful to behold but is a mirror to our souls as it can reflect to us who we truly are. This is why it is vitally important to spend as much in nature as you possibly can.
4) Take part in some sort of inner practice. What do I mean by this? Examples of these are prayer, meditation or spending time in your local place of worship. Meditation has become quite popular in recent years, however, it does not resonate with everyone. This is why you should pick the inner practice which speaks most to you and then spend time in this practice on a regular basis.
5) Do something that you normally would not do. This could be playing a new sport, eating food that you don’t normally eat, asking out a complete stranger, who you just met in a bookstore, on a date or any other number of activities. This forces you to get out of your comfort zone and drop all pretences about how your life should be. Getting out of your comfort zone and embracing the unknown are two of the most important things you can do to move towards your full awakening.
6) See your relationships as learning laboratories, no matter how challenging they may be at times. The fact is that the purpose of relationships is to express our true nature of love and compassion and the less that we are aware of this fact, the more challenges you will face in your relationships. Therefore, when those challenges occur then bless them because they are there to point you in the direction of your true nature.
7) Get a pet or spend more time with other people’s pets. Animals, even those who have been exposed to the human world as pets, are an aspect of nature and, usually, express themselves in their true nature. By spending more time with them, you can get a glimpse into who you are.
8) Practice loving unconditionally anybody who you encounter no matter how difficult they appear to be. This will allow you to express your true nature and also to touch the life of someone who may never have experienced unconditional love.
9) Forgive those who you feel have wronged you. Remember that you cannot be wronged because, as the Course in Miracles states, ‘Nothing that is real can be threatened.’ Even if you can’t forgive them in person, forgive them in your heart.
10) Give generously to others, whether it is your time or your money. Time is fleeting and simply an illusion in the absolute sense and we never truly can hold on to any material things or financial gain because, by nature’s law, these need to circulate in order to, not only be sustained, but to grow for ourselves and for society as a whole. This is why we invest but is also why we must tithe a portion of our wealth in order to keep it circulating, growing in the larger sense and, more importantly, benefiting those who are less fortunate.
If you just implement a few of the above suggestions, you’ll find yourself on the path to awakening and will begin to shed the illusion of who you think you are for the experience of who you truly are, pure being or consciousness. You will then know that you are not in the universe but Are an individuation of the universe in physical form.
This will transform your life and the lives of who you touch.